Faculty Bibliography

The effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) and bovine growth hormone (bGH) on intestinal calcium transport have been assessed in vitamin D deficient rats. Calcium transport did not increase after 7 days bGH treatment. A single dose of 1,25(OH)2D3 significantly increased calcium transport in the hypophysectomized (Hx) rats treated with bGH but not in the Hx rats who did not receive bGH, unless the dosage of 2,25(OH)2D3 was increased to 500 p moles. Even though calcium transport in the Hx rats was stimulated by the high dose of 1,25(OH)2D3, this response was less in the Hx than in bGh treated group. These results suggest that growth hormone status may be important in the expression of 1,25-(OH)2D3 action on intestinal calcium transport.

Total-body levels of sodium (TBNa), chlorine (TBCl), calcium (TBCa), and potassium (TBK) were measured by neutron activation and analysis of results by whole body counting in 66 postmenopausal women. The relationship between TBNa, and TBCl, TBK, and TBCa on the one hand, and height and weight on the other, were found to compare with those previously reported. The hypothesis that TBNa and TBCl are distributed normally could not be rejected. The sodium excess (Naes) is defined as the sodium that is present in excess of that associated with the extracellular fluid (chlorine) space; the Naes approximates nonexchangeable bone sodium. In these 66 postmenopausal women, and in patients with different endocrinopathies previously described, the values of Naes did not differ from the normal values except in the thyrotoxicosis patients, where they were decreased. A close relationship between Naes and TBCa was maintained in the endocrinopathies studied. This relationship was found in conditions accompanied by either an increment or a loss of skeletal mass. It appear